Mop cleaner



Patented Det. 27, 1936 STATES OFFME 1 Claim.

The present invention relates more particularly to means for cleaning dust mops.

After a dust mop has been used and lled with dust, lint, and other foreign matter which it has picked up from the floor, it is common practice to clean the same by shaking it out of a window or door, merely transferring the said foreign material from the oor to the air out of which it again settles but in a different place.

It is the object of the present invention to provide means whereby the dust may be quickly and easily removed from the mop within the building and without releasing any of it into the air whereby it may again settle upon the iloor and furniture.

It is also an object of the invention toprovide a means of the character indicated that will be economical to manufacture, simple in form and construction, easily transported from one room to another, that consists of few parts, and that is strong, durable, light in weight, easily emptied, and highly efficient in its practical application.

In the drawing;

Figure 1 is a perspective illustration of a device embodying my invention, a part being broken away.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure l, with parts broken away.

Figure 4 is a detail section through a portion oi the door and case at 4-4 of Figure l.

in the particular embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, I show at I a chamber defined by an elongated casing 2 that presents an oval configuration in transverse cross-section. The casing is formed of a single sheet of sheet metal bent into the form indicated with its two longer edges approaching each other to form a slot 3. The casing is supported by legs 4 with the slot 3 uppermost and disposed in a horizontal plane` The slot 3 is normally closed by rubber lips as 5 and 6 seated in opposed relation to each other in sockets as 'l and 8 in casing 2 and xedly held against displacement by plates 9 and I9. These lips normally contact each other along their opposing edges as at I I.

The casing I is further dened by a xed closure I2 at one end, this end being tted with a handle shown in dotted lines at I3 and extending crosswise of the said end.

The lower portion of the other end of the casing 2 is tted with a `door IQ swingably mounted on a rod I5 extending horizontally across the end of the casing. When the casing is tipped up on this end the door I4 will automatically swing open for the discharge of the contents of the casing. To hold the door in a normally closed position it is tted with a spring latch I6 movable into engagement with a keeper I'I.

' Spaced a distance above the rod I5, and in parallel relation thereto, is another supporting rod I8. On this rod I8 is swingably mounted an upper door I9. The door I9 extends below the rod I8 to normally iill and close the space between rods I5 and I8 as at 29, and this portion of the door is weighted as at 2 I. As herein disclosed the door I9 is built up of two pieces of sheet metal laid flat one against the other and clamping a peripherally disposed rubber strip as 22. The edge of the metal portion of the door is spaced from the casing I and the rubber strip extends outwardly therefrom as at 23 to slightly overlap a similar strip of rubber 24 seated in a socket 25 formed in casing 2 as shown. The result of this construction is that the largest portion of the door lies above the rod I8, and the door may be swung freely in either direction, even into a horizontal position as indicated at 26, but it will always return to its normal vertical position with the rubber strips 24, 25 contacting and preventing the escape of dust from the interior of the casing.

Mounted within the casing is a horizontally disposed grate 21. This grate extends the full length and width of the casing, and as herein disclosed is placed just below the level of the bottom of door I9, with its cross bars 28 extending transversely of the casing as shown.

Bumper rods are iixedly mounted in the casing as at 29, and so positioned that the door I9 may swing freely but will be protected against movement of the mop when being cleaned as hereinafter described. The device is tted with handles as at 30, one on each side of the slot 3, but movable toform a space between them through which a mop handle may pass.

In using the device it is only necessary to pass the handle of the mop between the lips 5 and 6 with the head of the mop entering the casing by swinging the door I9 inwardly. When the mop head is entirely within the casing the Adoor I9 will automatically close. The mop head is then lowered upon the grate 21 and moved back and forth thereover thereby extracting the dust therefrom and depositing it in the bottom of the chamber I. The lips 5, 6 permit the handle of the mop to be moved back and forth as required during this operation, yet the dust liberated from the mop is conned within the chamber I.

When the cleaning is accomplished and the mop removed the casing may be emptied by releasing the catch I6 and tipping the casing by means of handle I3, the door I4 then automatically swinging open and permitting the contents of the casing to ilow out.

'I'he door I9 swings in a doorway 3|, and the upper end of the doorway has open communication with the slot 3 at 32 so that when a mop head is moved into or out of the casing the mop handle will pass freely into or out of the slot 3 and between the rubber lips 5 and 6. These lips 5-6 will, of course, automatically close around the mop handle as it moves back and forth between them and eiectually prevent the escape of dust from the casing through slot 3.

It is to be understood, of course, that while I have herein shown and described but one specic embodiment of the invention, changes in form, construction, and method of assembly and operation may be made Within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A mop cleaner comprising, an elongated casing having a member supported therein upon which a mop may be rubbed, and having a slot formed therein above said member through which the handle of a mop may be moved, said casing being closed at one end and having a doorway formed in the other end above said member and communicating with said slot, and an automatically closing freely swinging door with a free edge directed upwardly toward said slot, in said doorway.

FORREST G. CLIPPER. 

